748
FXUS65 KBYZ 261900
AFDBYZ
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
100 PM MDT MON OCT 26 2026
KEY MESSAGES
- SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES (HIGHS IN THE 40S/50S) THIS WEEK.
- LOCALIZED FOG TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING, WITH THE GREATEST
CHANCE (40%) OVER FAR SOUTHEAST MT.
- WEATHER SYSTEM BRINGS A SHOT OF RAIN/MTN SNOW THIS EVENING THROUGH
TUESDAY AFTERNOON, AS WELL AS GUSTY WEST WINDS.
- MAINLY DRY AND BREEZY AT TIMES LAST HALF OF THE WORK WEEK.
DISCUSSION
THROUGH SUNDAY...
LOW CLOUDS/STRATUS WERE GRADUALLY DIMINISHING OVER CENTRAL AREAS
THIS AFTERNOON AS ASCENT INCREASES FROM THE WEST WITH AN
APPROACHING TROUGH/COLD FRONT. EXPECT STRATUS TO LINGER OVER THE
EAST INTO THE EVENING, WITH LOW CLOUDS AND LOCALIZED FOG
CONTINUING OVERNIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING. GREATEST CHANCE FOR FOG
IS OVER FAR SOUTHEAST MT (40% CHANCE).
AN UPPER TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED PACIFIC COLD FRONT WILL BEGIN
MOVING INTO THE WEST THIS EVENING, BRINGING RAIN/MOUNTAIN SNOW
SHOWERS, AND EVEN THE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW THUNDERSTORMS. THE
SHOWERS WILL SPREAD EAST INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS, REACHING
BILLINGS AFTER MIDNIGHT, GRADUALLY SPREADING NORTH AND EAST INTO
THE DAY TUESDAY, AS THE TROUGH CROSSES MONTANA. LIQUID
PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS WILL RANGE FROM A FEW HUNDREDTHS TO A TENTH
OVER THE LOWER ELEVATIONS WEST OF FALLON/CARTER COUNTIES, TO 0.25
ON WESTERN ASPECTS OF THE MOUNTAINS. A FEW INCHES OF SNOW ARE
POSSIBLE ON THE WESTERN ASPECTS OF THE CRAZY AND
BEARTOOTH/ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS, GENERALLY ABOVE 7,000 FT. SNOW MAY
MIX IN WITH THE RAIN INTO THE FOOTHILLS DUE TO THE CONVECTIVE
NATURE OF THE SHOWERS, BUT SURFACE TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN WARM
ENOUGH TO PREVENT ACCUMULATIONS BELOW 5,000 FT. I-90 OVER BOZEMAN
PASS COULD SEE DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS BRIEFLY LATER THIS
EVENING.
BEHIND THE FRONT, PRESSURE RISES AND INCREASING WINDS AT THE MID-
LEVELS WILL BRING BREEZY WESTERLY WINDS TO THE AREA TUESDAY. MOST
LOCATIONS WILL SEE WIND GUSTS OF 20-40 MPH, WITH WIND GUSTS OF
40-50 MPH ALONG THE WESTERN FOOTHILLS. THE PROBABILITY OF
EXCEEDING 60 MPH FROM LIVINGSTON TO BIG TIMBER AND HARLOWTON IS
ROUGHLY 30 PERCENT OR LESS. WITH THE DOWNSLOPE FLOW, TEMPERATURES
WILL TOP OUT IN THE UPPER 40S TO UPPER 50S. WINDS DECREASE INTO
TUESDAY EVENING.
FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE WORK WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND, THE
PATTERN LOOKS TO TRANSITION TO SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER THE
REGION. THIS WILL ALLOW OCCASIONAL RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE
WESTERN MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS, WITH THE LOWER ELEVATIONS
REMAINING MOSTLY DRY AND BREEZY AT TIMES. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL
REMAIN NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL (HIGHS MAINLY IN THE 50S)
THROUGH THURSDAY, COOLING INTO THE 40S TO 50S BEYOND. WHILE STILL
AWAYS OUT, THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR MORE UNSETTLED CONDITIONS
SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AS ENSEMBLES AND CLUSTERS PROG A
LARGE TROUGH TO PUSH INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. STP
AVIATION
EXPECT LOW STRATUS TO REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS SOUTHEAST MT THROUGH
TUESDAY MORNING WITH THE SMALL CHANCE FOR A BRIEF BREAK THIS
AFTERNOON. A COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH THE REGION
LATE THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS, BRINGING BREEZY
CONDITIONS BEHIND THE FRONT DURING THE DAY TUESDAY. WEST WIND
GUSTS 25-40KTS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE DAY WITH THE STRONGEST
GUSTS ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS WEST OF BILLINGS (KLVM, K6S0, KHWQ).
MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS ARE LIKELY ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL MT, CLEARING
THROUGH THE MORNING. TS
PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS
TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN MON
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 036/057 033/057 030/053 031/047 031/052 034/053 033/053
42/W 00/U 00/U 00/E 11/B 22/W 33/W
LVM 031/049 025/051 025/053 025/049 027/053 027/050 025/050
92/N 10/U 00/B 01/B 32/W 34/W 32/W
HDN 031/061 029/060 026/057 028/051 028/055 031/056 030/056
93/W 00/U 00/U 00/B 11/B 32/W 33/W
MLS 033/057 032/058 030/055 030/052 034/053 034/055 033/054
06/W 00/U 00/U 01/B 12/W 22/W 44/W
4BQ 034/059 033/058 030/058 034/056 037/056 036/057 036/054
02/W 00/U 00/U 00/B 11/B 22/W 44/W
BHK 025/054 029/057 027/058 026/052 032/056 033/056 030/053
02/N 00/U 00/U 11/B 32/W 32/W 44/W
SHR 030/059 028/058 025/059 028/055 029/056 030/056 030/055
21/U 00/U 00/U 00/B 11/B 24/W 54/W
BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
WEATHER.GOV/BILLINGS
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.
Main Text Page